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IMC 2010: Sessions

Session 504: Closing the House: Perspectives on Late Antique Theatre

Tuesday 13 July 2010, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:Platinum Latin
Organiser:Karin Schlapbach, Department of Classics & Religious Studies, University of Ottawa
Moderator/Chair:Cristiana Sogno, Department of Classics, Fordham University
Paper 504-aHabitacula turpitudinum: The Nature and Location of Spectacles in Late Antique and Early Medieval Gaul
(Language: English)
Alexander Puk, Zentrum für Altertumswissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Index terms: Epigraphy, Language and Literature - Latin
Paper 504-bThe Art of Compromise: Public Policy and Public Spectacle in a Christian Empire
(Language: English)
David Potter, Department of Classical Studies, University of Michigan
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Law
Paper 504-cReality and Imagination in the Christian Critique of the Theatre
(Language: English)
Karin Schlapbach, Department of Classics & Religious Studies, University of Ottawa
Index terms: Language and Literature - Greek, Language and Literature - Latin
Abstract

This panel addresses the tensions arising between traditional public spectacles and the new values of Christianity from three different angles:
a) How did spectacles according to the archeological, epigraphical, and literary evidence from late antique Gaul change? What was still performed, and where?
b) How were public spectacles regulated in the law-making of the Theodosian code? What was the policy in regard to this aspect of tradition?
c) How exactly did the polemical discourse against the spectacles relate to contemporary reality? To what extent was the theatre a foil that enabled the creation of a Christian identity?